Fatal end to abusive relationship

Bianca Arce had the courage to take her three children and flee the man she says beat them.

But after less than a month at a Phoenix shelter, with no money and no plan, she and the children returned to her boyfriend, Walter Munoz. He apologized and told her he loved her. He said she was the best friend he ever had.

Two months later, police say, Munoz beat her 2-year-old son to death.

Daniel Resendiz was bruised from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his toes. His rectum, liver and intestines were lacerated. The toddler had bite marks on his cheek and under his chin.

In an interview from jail, Arce told a Child Protective Services caseworker she left the children with Munoz for 30 minutes while she went to the store. She found her youngest lying on a bed when she returned.

"She stated that when she walked into the room she knew he was dead. She stated that his eyes were rolled into the back of his head and his lips were white," according to the CPS report. "At this point the mother broke down and began sobbing. She started saying, 'I should have saved him. My beautiful baby boy.' "

The investigator asked, why didn't you leave?

"She stated that she was scared. She stated that he had threatened that he would tie her up if she ever tried to leave him. She stated that she felt that if she left, he could come looking for her," the report says. "She stated that she is dying inside."

Two months earlier, in August 2010, a different CPS worker visited Arce during her stay at the domestic-violence shelter, investigating a report that Munoz was abusing Arce and the children, particularly Daniel. The case was still open when Daniel was killed Oct. 30, but it's unclear if CPS knew that Arce had returned to Munoz.

Arce, 28, is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for child abuse for failing to protect Daniel. Munoz awaits a murder trial in Daniel's death.

It's not known exactly what services Arce and the children received at the shelter or why she left before the 120-day limit. Such information is protected under federal domestic-violence laws. But emergency shelters are only short-term answers. Experts say there's a shortage of transitional housing, and many women can't get the help they need to become self-sufficient.

Domestic-violence administrators have managed to keep most of the state's 1,200 shelter beds despite budget cuts. The bigger problem, they say, is lack of staff as well as waiting lists for services, which help families make the critical transition to permanent, stable housing and employment so they don't return to their abusers.

"You can't get child care, you can't get KidsCare (health insurance), you can't get housing," said Connie Phillips, executive director of the Sojourner Center, a Phoenix shelter. "What do we expect women to do when we can't give them those long-term supports?"

Budget cuts made it harder to help victims navigate government services, said Elizabeth Ditlevson, acting executive director of the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "Getting somewhere to sleep is important," she said. "But if you're unable to get people the services they need, it's only a temporary solution."

In a yearlong series of stories, The Republic, azcentral.com and 12 News will examine the welfare of Arizona's children, highlighting the state's many families in crisis.

Coming Tuesday

The causes of child-abuse fatalities differ, but investigators have found one tragic pattern year after year: Mothers are more likely than anyone to kill their kids.

Future

This series will also look at: an overloaded Child Protective Services; a record number of children in foster care and few families to take them in; how the community can help keep children safe and families stable.